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Training Hall
Training Hall is an encounter in Melody of the Maze. It comes after The Orc King's Gratitude or Goresnout's Boys. Enemies *Red Knight (1100 Gold, 120 Xp, 75 Energy, 5 HP Normal, 6 HP Hard) *Green Knight (1100 Gold, 120 Xp, 75 Energy, 5 HP Normal, 6 HP Hard) *Blue Knight (1100 Gold, 120 Xp, 75 Energy, 5 HP Normal, 6 HP Hard) *Marcus (3500 Gold, 400 Xp, 250 Energy, 1 HP All) *Locked until all others are defeated.* Transcript Introduction The passage gives way to a large hall, the irregular slabs of the floor yielding to neat square flagstones. It's a training chamber, like those in your family's keep -- a room dedicated to the warrior's arts. Straw dummies, weapon racks, and mounted swords and shields line the walls. This is a place dedicated to battle, as true a shrine as any lofty cathedral or marble temple. Knights in painted panoplies clash at the far end of the chamber, their synchronized, choreographed movements those of warriors performing martial drills rather than attempting to slay one another -- fighters learning the steps to the war god's dance. Another warrior looks on at the exercises, nodding in approval at each deft maneuver. His back is to you, but you know him all the same. The bronze armor, the dark skin and distinctive hairstyle... "I've been watching you," he says. He turns around, revealing a handsome face that's looked down on you hundreds of times from paintings and sculptures. "You're a skilled warrior. In truth, perhaps the best I've seen in a long, long time. But you put too much faith in your own abilities." "As much as I enjoy being lectured by phantoms, every encounter I've had in this place so far has ended in a fight. So, why don't we skip the pleasantries?" "Your ancestor wasn't so arrogant. Though he was raised in humbler circumstances. I sometimes think the world would be a better place if we all started off as farmhands..." "I know you're not the real Marcus." "Perhaps not. But I'm as close to him as you'll ever get in this life. Don't let the opportunity go to waste." You sigh, but gesture for him to continue. "I've heard the stories," he continues. "Those that were first told in my own time, and brightened my old age with their ridiculousness. In one of them I lifted a boulder 'the likes of which two men as men are now could never lift', and hurled it to crack a dragon's skull." "Bards like to exaggerate." "The truth is that we weren't demi-gods, possessed of divine strength, or speed, or skill, or power. Our deeds, everything we achieved, were wrought because we fought as one. From the Dragon-Rider himself to the rawest soldier in the ranks, all of us knew that we could only succeed with the aid of our comrades." Marcus beckons with his gauntleted hand. The knights stop their drills, some of them freezing in mid-strike, and clatter towards the two of you. "It's a lesson you must learn." "All of you against me?" you ask. "Hardly seems fair." "Then it's a bloody good job we're here, isn't it?" You look to your left. Hugh stands beside you, his cleaver in his hand. "You're not Hugh," you say. "Or Brachus," the demon's voice agrees. "But you may rely on our assistance." "Don't look a gift horse in the mouth," Tessa says from your other side. Marcus lifts his weapon. His knights fan out into their combat positions. Tessa, real or otherwise, is right. Metaphysical matters can wait until the martial ones have been dealt with. Conclusion Brawl boss unlocked! You're not his equal. That thought rattles in your mind with each strike and parry, each dodge and riposte. Marcus' sword is a steel blur, probing and pressing your defenses, lashing out wherever it perceives an opening -- batting away each of your attacks as if they were the clumsy blows of a child. Spells die on your lips, swept away by the swift yet precise flurries that demand every scrap of your focus. You're blocking a high attack when your left leg is knocked out from under you, by a sweep so quick that you only comprehend it after you fall into one knee -- and look up to see the sword flashing down to finish you. But the doom written upon its edge never reaches you. Instead the blade flicks to the left, knocking Tessa's arrow away -- preventing it from piercing his neck. Another shaft follows, and another. Arrows rain on the bronze-armored warrior -- as though he were being assailed by an entire unit of archers instead of a single woman. Marcus steps into the volley, his blade sweeping and slashing, deflecting each shaft as he charges towards their mistress. He stops in his tracks when the glowing green bolt flashes towards him, and only a quick sidestep averts whatever sorcerous might it contains. Your gaze sweeps the hall as you rise. The knights have all disappeared, consigned to whatever fate awaits them by Tessa and Hugh. Only Marcus remains... Marcus bats away the arrows, slips aside from each spell Brachus flings at him. But before he can move to eliminate either of his foes your weapon is added to the assault. "Remember this," Marcus says, somehow managing to find time for words even as he fends off the attacks of three foes. "Remember it well." He vanishes before your sword can reach him. There's no explosion, no rush of colored fog to mark his passing. He's simply gone. You turn to the others, words of gratitude on your lips. But they too have faded out of existence. Category:Melody of the Maze